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30 Days of Scans Day 3: Favorite Friendship

Booster and Beetle’s bromance was love at first sight for me. They compliment each other so well! Always getting into mischief together, having each other’s backs, calling each other out on their faults (like that one time Booster married that old lady).

Never ever have a read a more fun pair. They got trapped together, argued about how to get out, and… before being RUDELY interrupted by some rescuers… stopped and almost had a push-up competition. There’s something about them that just screams “this is what friendship is.”

I was devastated to learn about Ted Kord’s death. Booster holds his own pretty damn well, but never ever will there be another dynamic like this one. :(

S_D'ers surprised me this a.m. by being in before the main post! Ha. Awww, that's kind of awesome, though. Also that Boostle scan always makes me laugh. Sure, guys,. Sure...

For me, this one is pretty easy! Cass Cain and Steph Brown.

This is kind of funny and personal for me because my personality is similar to Steph’s and all throughout university, I had a Cass in my BFF, who also happened to be Asian (South Vietnamese/South Korean. We’re still friends, we just don’t live together anymore!)

Anyways, Cass and Steph are like one functioning unit: Steph talks too much and Cass talks too little. They are wonderfully adorable and will do anything for each other. They will always trust each other and both have daddy issues. Cass was utterly devastated when Steph “died” and I think if we could actually see Cass in DC books right now (Grrrr another rant for another day…), she would be so incredibly proud of what Steph’s accomplished as Batgirl.

And on that note…. BRING BACK CASS, DC!!!

Runner UpsCable and DeadpoolLuke Cage and Danny RandHarley and IvyPowergirl and Atlee Babs and DinahTim, Bart and Kon

My instant response was the Blue and Gold too. Didn't even ponder for a second.

Probably because I grew up with the Bwahahaha League, which was a backup in the Fleetway Editions version of Superman. I remember being a little miffed when Booster first turned up and broke up Blue Beetle and Mister Miracle, but I quickly got over that. Nothing - not even Scott Free - can get in the way of true bromance.

They're actually weirdly hard to pin down in trades. You could pick up some of the JLI trades collecting the late Eighties run (starting with Justice League International: Volume 1) for old skool Blue and Gold as part of an ensemble. Oddly enough, in the more recent and more readily available Superbuddies series (trades: "Formerly Known As The Justice League" and "I can't Believe It's Not The Justice League") they've had a terrible tiff and aren't their usual bromantic selves.

For a real focus on their friendship the first trade of the modern Booster Gold series (it's called "52 Pickup") would actually be a decent place to start, with the caveat that Beetle's dead for most of it, heh (he gets better.)(Briefly.). As the name suggests, it's the immediate aftermath to 52, in which Booster, now teamed up with Rip and associated timetravelly goodness, tries to go back in time to save Ted. That story arc continues into the second Booster trade, "Blue and Gold", which is also awesome.

Hmm. Favorite is Superman-Batman, a friendship so awesome it had its own comic. (I'm speaking of World's Finest, of course.) Blok-Timber Wolf gets an honorable mention. And since we're on the subject of the LSH, Phantom Girl-Shadow Lass and I always thought Shadow Lass and Night Girl should have been friends, but beyond a couple of brief teamups, nothing was ever mentioned.

I don't think I have anything to add to this one. I tossed around a few other ideas - Kurt and Logan, Jono and Angelo, Steph and Cass - but at the end of the day, it's Booster and Beetle that come out on top. They're just pure love.

...because this got much longer than I thought it would! So with apologies for the length, here's my top (almost) ten, in no particular order.

The original Young Allies (Bucky, Toro, Wash, Knuckles, Jeff, and Tubby). The 75th-anniversary issue that Marvel put out featuring them really made it clear to me how much these boys came to value each others' comradeship.

Steve and Bucky, because they liked each other from the start (AFAIK) and developed that fondness into a deep friendship; because they've both seen and been through a lot, and are capable of a lot, alone and together. Their time together has helped make them (Bucky most visibly, but very likely Steve too) stronger.

The Birds of Prey, particularly Dinah, Helena, Barbara, and Zinda. Because from most of the things I've seen with these women in it, I've come to see that they've gotten to know each other well and to trust each other deeply. It's not to say they haven't had their bad moments, but I really think that their friendship is stronger than their weak points.

Zayne Carrick, Jarael, and Marn "Gryph" Hierogryph from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Ragtag group of misfits describes them well; yet they managed to persevere through fifty issues of crazy adventures. And despite one hard separation (between Jarael and Zayne), they always found a way remain friends and to keep watching each others' backs.

Bob Grayson and Venus, the two agents of Atlas. I think they really were close when they were teammates in the 1950s, as two happy and generally cheerful young people; and although Bob is more aloof as the Uranian than he ever was as Marvel Boy because of his later life experiences, I think that friendship is still there and still important.

Venus and Namora, also agents of Atlas; because Venus recognizes Namora's grief over her daughter's death and helps her through it and because, when their trip to see Namor ends badly, Venus declares her intention to do something about Namora's unhappiness and says something along the lines of "she deserves to be happy".

Tom Taylor, Lizzie Hexam, and Richard Savoy - I have a feeling that if they all survive the events of The Unwritten, and if Tom is able to accept Lizzie's part in the craziness that his life became (the full extent of which I don't know much about yet because I'm reluctantly trade-waiting the current arc of the comic), then they'll be a good team, however reluctantly.

Tintin and Chang (IIRC that's what it is in English), a little Chinese boy whom he comes to have a particular friendship with. There is, of course, the rest of the cast that grows around Tintin and Snowy as their adventures take their course, particularly (to use the English names) Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, and Nestor.

Biggs Darklighter and Luke Skywalker, and Biggs Darklighter and Derek "Hobbie" Klivian. One of the main reasons that the "Darklighter" arc of Empire was one I wanted in trade really badly for a long time before I got it was because of how it provides more insight into Biggs' friendships.

Honorable mentions to Johnny Storm and Peter Parker (from what I've seen they can be awesome together, each snarking away in a friendly manner); Asterix and Obelix; Steph and Babs; the developing Steph and Wendy friendship; Dick and Tim (although it quickly became more like close brotherhood than friendship); and Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen (AFAIK; I wonder how this friendship is going these days).

I think for me, I would probably say Tintin and Captain Haddock. As ficticons pointed out above, Tintin also has a very deep and beautiful friendship with Chang Chon-Chen, but A: we really only see examples of it in two of the books, and B: the two are too much alike for it to be really interesting; both are so pure of heart that one half expects them to rise into the sky in a beam of light at any moment. The Tintin/Haddock friendship, though, is a really interesting one. On the one hand, you've got Tintin, boy adventurer, gutsy, adventurous, clean-cut; on the other, you've got Captain Archibald Haddock, middle-aged retired sea captain, semi-professional drunkard, member of the country gentry, and general foul-mouthed klutz. The two have almost nothing in common, yet there is a deep connection between the two of them. Tintin gets a bit exasperated at the Captain at times, yet clearly depends on him as an emotional anchor and sounding board, if nothing else, and is obviously distraught on the really rather frequent occasions when he thinks his friend has bought the farm. Haddock, on the other hand, is absolutely devoted to Tintin for a clear and simple reason - he saved his life. If it weren't for him, he'd still be a pathetic boozehound drinking his life away as the pawn of a ruthless criminal. Tintin rescued him from all that, gave him control of his life back, and in the process gained a firm friend and partner in adventure. Haddock may scoff at what he sees as Tintin's naivete, he may grumble at being dragged into yet another adventure when all he wants is to stay home and read the paper, but there is never any doubt that where one goes, so goes the other - the one exception to this is in 'Tintin and the Picaros', where things take a pretty dramatic downward turn for the series in general. He's Tintin's right-hand man, and would sacrifice his life for him without the slightest hesitation - view the scene in 'Tintin and Tibet' where he prepares to cut the rope holding the two of them together. There's not a hint of doubt, only grim determination - his friend will die unless he dies first, so he might as well get it over with. If there has ever been a deeper, yet more unlikely friendship in comics, I've yet to see it. Runner-ups, I suppose, would include one similar to yours - Blue Beetle and the Question. I know, I know, they only teamed up a few times, but they really clicked when they did, as is shown by their expies in 'Watchmen'. I continue to hold out hope that the current versions will have a team-up at some point. Also, the Newsboy Legion - they're a pretty tight group.

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